Big New York City fashion brands to mentor fashion tech start-ups

Some of New York City's leading fashion companies including J. Crew and Macy's are partnering to launch a competitive mentorship program called the New York Fashion Tech Lab or NYFT Lab, for short, Crain's reports.

Backed by Springboard Enterprises and the Partnership Fund for New York City, the lab will give small fashion technology start-ups the chance to be mentored by sponsors such as Kate Spade & Company and Ralph Lauren Corporation. Areas of interest will likely include wearable tech, customer engagement and 3-D printing.

New York's fashion industry includes some 800 companies and 173,000 jobs that generate $10 billion in local wages and $1.7 billion in tax revenue.